Holy Cross came in second to the Hearts last year (476-402). The Crusaders haven't won the NVL title in over 30 years.

"This year, I think the top two teams will be within 10 points of each other," said Holy Cross coach Chris Papsin. "At the trials, the kids all swam amazing. I am very proud of them. They either all held their spots or improved their times.

The Hearts have an advantage over Holy Cross in diving, which took place on Wednesday night.

"We'll be playing catch-up (tonight)," noted Papsin. "But I believe we do have a chance to win if the kids keep swimming like they did at the trialsand hopefully, things fall where they need to be."

Snyder considers his team an overachiever after graduating a slew of swimmers last year.

Still there has been steady progress through the regular season. Sacred Heart has gone 13-1 overall with an 8-0 mark in the NVL.

"We are right now in the thick of things," said Snyder. "We had a really good trials (Tuesday).

"I could go back a good 10 years to find another NVL trials for my team where we were as successful for all levels of kids, from the fastest to the novice," added Snyder. "There was almost a 100 percent of the kids who had best times. That's the kind of meet a coach lives for. Win, lose or draw (Friday), I am ecstatic the way we performed at the trials."

Torrington coach Andrew Marchand said he was very pleased with his swimmers' performances at the trials.

"We are returning four swimmers in all events except the 50, 100 free and 100 breaststroke," said Marchand. "We are still fourth going into the finals, but hoping to catch third by the end. It will be tough, but we have a shot. I am real proud of how far our guys have progressed."

Snyder IV is the defending champion in the 50 freestyle ( and also broke a 13-year record in the 100 backstroke (54.24), eclipsing a 1999 mark of 54.39) set by Jeremy Marchand of Torrington. He also earned the meet's Outstanding Swimmer Award.

Coleman won the 100 butterfly last year while Buderwitz of the Crusaders came in first ni the 500 freestyle.

Here's a list of the top finishers and times in each event from the trials:

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